Background
Volunteer
Enterprise Mentorship Programme is a programme that provides mentorship support
to youth businesses. Mentors and young entrepreneurs are assessed, qualified
and matched to form an ongoing mentoring relationship aimed at improving the
sustainability and growth of a start-up or existing businesses of South African
young entrepreneurs.
Programme
Objectives
Transfer
business skills and knowledge among South African young entrepreneurs;
Increase
sustainability and growth chances of youth businesses;
Why
volunteer mentoring?
Around
the world, most of the businesses are started with the financial support of
family and friends, and with this support normally comes business advice,
mentorship and access to markets. In South Africa, the NYDA attempts to fill
the role of the family for unemployed and self-employed young people.
It
is firstly necessary to recognise that the challenge of sourcing business
finance is often an arduous and time-consuming task for a start-up enterprise.
Once the start-up capital for their businesses have been secured, the young
entrepreneurs have to immediately start making an income to pay off what is
generally expensive finance. With these time and financial challenges placed on
the entrepreneur, he/she is hardly in a position to shop around for a credible
business consultant, nor pay exorbitant business consulting fees. The volunteer
mentorship programme thus introduces the young entrepreneur to the potential
value of good business advice and support services.
Involving
corporate volunteers and postgraduates as business mentors will promote
socially responsible business practice that will benefit business and society,
and it will help achieve social, economic and environmentally sustainable
development. It is a credible and productive form of employee engagement and it
can facilitate the development of business links between the corporate sector
and small enterprises. It is also contributes to Enterprise Development as
outlined in the BBBEE policy.
Download Mentor Application Form
Download Mentee Application Form